Lost earnings analysis applied to product liability litigation: methodology, deliverables, and case-specific considerations.
Product liability claims often involve an injured person whose exposure to the product bears no relation to their occupation, so the lost earnings analysis is built from that person's own path rather than from the circumstances of the injury. The economist establishes the but-for earnings base from the earnings history or, for a child, student, or homemaker, from the educational path and occupational earnings data, projects it over the applicable worklife with growth, and sets against it the post-injury path the work-capacity opinions support. In a mass tort setting the same documented method is applied to each claimant's own records so results are consistent in method and individual in result.
Past and future lost earnings and fringe benefits for a person whose injury has removed them from work or reduced what they can earn. The analysis builds from the earnings history, projects the but-for path over the person's expected worklife with wage growth, and discounts the future stream to present value. When the person can still work in a reduced capacity, the loss is framed as diminished earning capacity, with the post-injury path drawn from a vocational opinion or the treating record and offset against the but-for projection.
The claim consists of lost earnings and earning capacity from the date of injury across the person's expected worklife, lost fringe benefits, the replacement value of household services, and the present value of future care costs documented in a life care plan or treating recommendations. In a fatal injury the components become the survivors' loss of support, household services, and the estate's claim where the framework provides one. In mass tort settings the analysis may also require a consistent methodology applied across many claimants with different ages, occupations, and injuries. The drivers are the earnings and benefit history, the medical and work-capacity opinions, and the care plan.
We issue the final report in disclosure-ready form and provide deposition and trial testimony, rebuttal of opposing economic opinions, and updated calculations as new records arrive.
From the educational attainment the record supports and occupational earnings data for that level, starting at the age the child would have entered the workforce and projected over a full worklife. The report states the education assumption and shows how the result changes under alternatives.
Yes. The economist documents one method for the earnings base, growth, worklife, and discounting, then applies it to each claimant's own records. The approach supports settlement allocation and trial because every figure can be traced to its own record and the method is the same across the group.
Request a consultation on Lost Earnings or call (201) 343-0700. Plaintiff and defense counsel.